Kingdom of Gundaar
The Kingdom of Gundaar is one of the last Great Dwarven cities from the age of the Empire, for the past 2000 years it has been ruled by House Orcbane, at present being ruled by the tenth Orcbane King, Thorgrim III, who has been able to reclaim some of the lands that had been lost for centuries. House Orcbane House Orcbane was founded 2000 years ago when a member of the warrior caste, Durin, held off a entire Ork army just long enough for the Ruling King at that time, Endrin VI, to rally the army to fight back the Orks in a battle that threatened the city, for this action Durin became popularly known as "Orcbane" and was later made both a Paragon of the Dwarven people, and was also adopted into the royal family by the King, as his only son had been killed in the same battle. When King Endrin VI died from natural causes a few years later, the assembly accepted the elderly kings wishes and crowned Durin "Orcbane" as King Durin V, but Durin named his reign as the beginning of a new dynasty of Kings, and thus House Orcbane came into being as the 7th Royal dynasty of the Kingdom of Gundaar. Succession of Orcbane Kings (using the dynastic calender for Dwarven dynastys: OD = Orcbane Dynasty) King Durin V "Orcbane" 8000 ACW - 8262 ACW King Durin V was a Paragon King, the first monarch of his dynasty, his long reign was marked by extensive public works campaigns and a reformation of the Gundaarin Army, and he would also reform the government, and setting up a new legal view of surface dwarves, who had long since been considered "casteless", he wore a crown of Black Iron and Gold, with sharp points like swords. He died peacefully in 8262 ACW King Thorgrim I "the Cunning" 8262 ACW - 8441 ACW King Thorgrim I was the second Monarch of the Orcbane dynasty, ruling for 179 years, his reign saw some gains for the kingdom as he skillfully manipulated the Ork clans into fighting eachother, thus taking pressure off of the front lines, he is ultimately remembered as "Thorgrim the Cunning". He wore a crown of gold, elaborate in design and etched with dwarven runes of wisdom. He died of natural causes, leaving his son to take the throne. King Thorin IV "the Cruel" 8441 ACW - 8674 ACW King Thorin IV was the third monarch of the Orcbane dynasty, ruling for 233 years he ruled as a despot and a tyrant, brutally executing any who spoke out against him, and as such he is the least popular monarch of the Orcbane dynasty, he however, achieved some results. The Orcbane dynasty had cemented its claim to the throne, which had always been in question until Thorin silenced the scholars who denounced House Orcbanes claims, and Thorin was able to achieve lasting peace by forcing the various noble factions to work together. He wore the crown of Durin V. He died in 8674 of unknown causes, presumably poisoning, leaving no sons, and thus the throne passed onto his nephew, Durin King Durin VI "the Gentle" 8674 ACW - 8874 ACW Durin VI was the fourth monarch of the Orcbane dynasty, being the nephew of King Thorin IV, Durin VI did not continue the same brutal policy's of his uncle, instead using a policy that can be most accurately described as "bread and circuses" to entertain and distract the common people from the dangers that they were facing, Durin VI was a weak king, and a terrible administrator, he left most of the Kingdom's governance to his councillor, Vorn Omak. Durin VI wore the crown of Thorgrim I, ultimately dying after a accident in 8874. King Thorgrim II "the Dragonbane" 8874 - 9104 King Thorgrim II was the fifth monarch of the Orcbane dynasty, being the son of Durin VI he was out on campaign when he received word of his fathers death, and quickly returned with a legion to find that his fathers councillor, Vorn Omak, had put up his own son as King in a attempt to overthrow the Orcbane dynasty, but as Thorgrim closed in on the city, more and more of the nobility and common people swore loyalty to the true King, and when Thorgrim entered the capitol he was greeted by a crowd of nobles bearing a pike upon which Vorn Omak's head was impaled. Thorgrim crowned himself and immediately ordered the nobles who murdered Vorn Omak to be exiled, citing that it was against the Mandate of Gundaar to imprison or execute a member of the nobility without due trial. While this act enraged the nobility it would gain Thorgrim the support of the lower castes, and in later years he would solidify the front against the Orks, and would lead a force to destroy a nest of dragons that was endangering trade routes with the Republic of Naradia, killing a Great Dragon himself with his blade, which would become known as the "Dragonbane". Thorgrim II wore the crown of Durin V and would die of natural causes, leaving his formerly weakened Kingdom incredibly strengthened. King Endrin VII 9104 ACW - 9210 ACW King Endrin VII was the sixth monarch of the Orcbane dynasty, the eldest son of Thorgrim II, Endrin VII would immediately set forth on a campaign, which was ultimately successful in claiming more land for the Kingdom, however he was never able to tame a troublesome Assembly, which limited his progress and ultimately undermined his authority, in the last year of his reign he was out on campaign when he was assasinated by his bodyguards, nobility who were angry at the King for various reasons. King Endrin VII wore a new crown, a huge and heavy Golden crown inset with glowing ruby's, as he died childless, his younger brother was made the new King King Durin VII 9210 ACW - 9297 ACW King Durin VII was the seventh monarch of the Orcbane dynasty, the younger brother of Endrin VII, Durin VII dealt with the problems left to him by his brother, Durin VII attempted to be the best king he could be, embarking on campaigns and trying to placate the nobility, but ultimately his reign was one of weakness and chaos as the various noble factions in the Assembly fought eachother, and ultimately Durin VII died in battle, leaving a incapable son in a position to inherit, and thus the crown passed on to his younger brother, Garm. Durin VII wore the crown of Thorgrim I King Garm II "the Spider" 9297 ACW - 9580 ACW King Garm II was the eighth monarch of the Orcbane dynasty, the youngest brother of Kings Durin and Endrin VII, Garm II managed to use the combative assembly to his advantage, distracting them while he went around them and practiced his powers as a despot, but he was no warrior and ultimately he would lose all the lands gained under his older brothers and father, dying after 283 years a broken and embittered man, he wore the crown of Endrin VII King Endrin VIII "the Wise" 9580 ACW - 9800 ACW King Endrin VIII was the ninth monarch of the Orcbane dynasty, the son of Durin VII, Endrin was passed over in the succession due to false accusations of being incapable, ultimately Endrin VIII inherited the throne following the death of his uncle, Garm II, Endrin VIII would settle the rowdy Assembly that plagued te reigns of his father and uncles, afterwards his reign was one of peace and prosperity, earning a reputation as being a fair but firm ruler, Endrin and his eldest son, Thorin, would both die in a ill-fated battle, leaving the succession in question between his two remaining sons, who were twins, Endrin VIII wore the crown of Thorgrim I, which was lost in the battle where he died King Thorgrim III 9800 ACW - 10000 ACW (present day) King Thorgrim III is the tenth and incumbent monarch of the Orcbane dynasty, one of the younger sons of Durin VIII, Thorgrim came to the throne following the untimely deaths of his father and older brother, the first challenge to his reign was a succession crisis between him and his twin brother, who had turned to the Carta and the Casteless to launch a massive rebellion, Thorgrim led the nobility and warriors to crush the rebellion, utilizing ruthless and brutal methods to bring the casteless back under control, destroying the Carta by killing its leaders but offering the lower ranking members of the organization amnesty in return for service in the Legions, he would also strip his younger brother of his royal status and exile him, the Princes name being stricken from the recordbooks, he is now remembered as "the Exiled Prince". Thorgrim III would later strengthen his control in the Assembly by silencing his critics and winning allies, by the end of the tenth year of his reign Thorgrim was in complete de facto control of Kal-Gundaar, ruling as a Benevolent Despot. Thorgrim III also led the Legions out on campaigns, halting and then reversing the Ork onslaught, taking back the territorys that once were gained under Thorgrim II, earning him the love of the people and loyalty of the warrior caste, using this political capitol he, in a stroke of pragmatism, lifted the ancient restrictions on casteless wielding weapons as long as they serve in the Legions, after 100 years they would be allowed to join the warrior caste if found worthy, and prostitution became fully legalized and regulated, boosting the fertility rate among the dwarves, he also wears the crown of Durin V. Ultimately King Thorgrim III is loved by the people, and feared by the nobility, he is dangerous at war and pitiless in politics, a true Dwarven monarch. Military The Gundaarin military is a literal successor of the Dwarven Empire, organizing their armies into 10,000 man Legions with a clear hiearchy of ranks. the Dwarves, because of their small numbers, rely more on quality than quantity, and many Legionnaires are veterans of countless battles and campaigns spanning centuries of fighting experience, for every battle that a Legionnaire fights on the surface, they have fought 10 battles underground. Legionnaire: a Dwarven soldier between the ages of 50-300, these men are the backbone of the Dwarven military, heavily armoured in dwarven plate, and equipped with metal shields and shortswords, the Dwarven legionnaire is highly disciplined, highly trained, and armed with some of the best fighting equipment in the world, however they dont have easy lives. It is rare for a Legionnaire to live to the age of 300, as the war the rages under the ground never stops, as such many Legionnaires can expect to be on campaign for most of their lives, until they either die, go mad, or crippled. Marksmen: these Dwarves are similar to the Legionnaires, but are made up of soldiers drawn from the other castes of Dwarven society, such as servants and casteless, wielding high powered dwarven single-shot rifles, a marksmen can kill a Ork from up to 200 yards away, as such they are incredibly valuable as snipers and skirmishers Berserker: life on the frontlines isn't nice, and there is only so much a Legionnaire can take until he just cracks, Berserkers are former Legionnaires that have their minds broken by the brutality of the combat they face, and having given themselves over to unreasoning Rage they cannot be trusted to stay in formation, as such they are taken off the line and "retrained" to use this rage, and it is for this reason that Berserkers are among the most feared of the dwarven soldiery, being sent by their commanders to wreak bloody havoc in Ork lines, the sight of a team of berserkers marching to the frontlines is more than enough to send weaker Orks scurrying for safety. Vehicles: the Dwarves are technologically advanced, utilizing crude steam vehicles and automatic turrets, the dwarves are masters at innovation.